BIRD LIFE, ETC. 179 



terminating at the mouth of the valley in a dark 

 conical mass ; and, straight before me, in the south-east, 

 at the distance of nearly a mile, another vast mountain. 

 The summits of all were at times enveloped in clouds. 

 The wind, which blew from the west, was not keen, 

 and the night was such as, in comfortable circum- 

 stances, might be called warm. Yet on awakening 

 from my slumber I felt chilly, and soon after began 

 to shiver. I then rose, and gathered a few large stones 

 and a good deal of grass and short heath, with which 

 I formed a somewhat snug sort of couch. Unloosing 

 my pack, I took a night-cap and a pair of stockings 

 from it, which I applied to their proper use, for my 

 feet had been wetted in crossing a brook, and my 

 hat alone did not keep my head warm after the per- 

 spiration it had undergone. Then, eating a little of my 

 scanty store of barley bread, and drinking two or three 

 cupfuls of water from a neighbouring rill, 1 lay down, 

 put heather and my knapsack over my feet, placed 

 myself in an easy posture, and fell asleep. 



"I awoke fresh, but weak, about sunrise. The 

 stream which I had followed here divided into two, 

 and I chose the largest. It led me to a magnificent 

 corrie, in the form of a deep hollow scooped out of 

 the great ridge, on the left of the glen, as described, 

 but now on my right hand in ascending it. The sides 

 of this corrie were formed of sloping rocks of vast 

 height. The rivulet came tumbling down the centre 

 in the form of a cataract. Here the rocks were most 

 abrupt; but I had determined to proceed, at least to 



